Slowly but surely, people are getting priced out of the modern economy.
The cost of living—let alone the cost of living well—is higher than ever before. While inflation continues to soar, American consumers are left with more questions than answers.
What’s to be done?
Budgeting remains important, but it’s almost taboo to discuss, especially in today’s flex-driven social media world. In the era of front-facing smartphone cameras, everyone feels the pressure of looking like they have life figured out.
While most Americans know how to budget, they do it quietly. They rarely (if ever) talk about it with their friends and family.
That is, until loud budgeting came along at the end of 2023. As we will see, it could not have arrived at a better time.
Read on to learn how this budgeting philosophy can help you take control of your financial life.
The Importance of Budgeting
Before we get into loud budgeting, let’s take a moment to defend budgeting itself.
Why do we budget?
Because it’s the most reliable way to ensure you have more money coming in than going out.
While it’s easy to assume that we can accurately ballpark our budgets, that’s pure fantasy—especially in the era of digital wallets, where people spend roughly 20% more per transaction than they do with physical credit cards and cash.
Budgeting reminds us of the value of every dollar. It puts a hedge around our labor. It saves resources for a rainy day.
Indeed, budgeting is the true cornerstone of your financial life and the roadmap to avoiding dangerous debt cycles.
While “budgeting” may sound like a stern lecture from a dictatorial parent, it’s ultimately far more benevolent than that.
With a sound budget, you can create a pathway to confidently enjoy things like vacations, restaurants, and other experiences without regrets.
Why? Because budgeting doesn’t mean saying “yes” to everything; only to the right things.
Loud Budgeting and The Cost of Living
What is loud budgeting?
Simply put, it’s a financial strategy that puts your financial best interests—and no one else’s—front and center.
Loud budgeting is about saying “no” to expenses you should avoid, and “yes” to talking about your financial situation out-loud.
Let’s face it: most budgeting is bashful. It can hurt our pride to admit we can’t afford everything under the sun.
In the age of Instagram, life is supposed to look idyllic—like a photoshopped picture from Mykonos, Cappadocia, or the Brooklyn Bridge.
Social media has one word always at the top of mind: more. More vacations, more designer clothes, more exotic food—more everything.
Celebrities commoditize glitz and glam, inspiring the middle class to copy their ways, and seducing younger generations into mimicking their lifestyles.
It’s a terrifying cycle driven by FOMO: the fear of missing out.
Keep in mind that many influencers paint a cruelly deceptive picture of their lives, and some of them are in considerable debt.
Nevertheless, this brave new world is not sustainable, especially right now.
As you have likely noticed, the consumer price index (CPI) is up 3.5% in early 2024, driving Americans to spend a record 11% of their disposable income on food alone.
This pernicious trend is changing social lives, where $20 cocktails cost more than a nice meal. It’s also limiting the once standard week-long vacation, which cost $4,580 for a family of four a decade ago but has since ballooned to nearly $8,000 in 2024.
And that’s not even mentioning the cost of gas.
While prices have risen across the board, wages haven’t kept pace over the last few years—which means the cost of inflation is consistently beating employee earnings.
Why do we mention these doom-and-gloom statistics?
Because living in 2024 is hard for everyone, and it’s important to know you’re not alone in the struggle.
That’s why budgeting is getting loud.
Why Loud Budgeting?
We’ve all been there.
You have a friend or family member in town, and they ask you to go to dinner. They not only pick a pricey restaurant, but they also choose a popular spot to grab a few drinks beforehand.
Then, they want to get ice cream. Or see a movie. Or a show. You don’t want to be a buzzkill, so you say yes—to all of it.
Just like that, you’re on the hook for spending over $100 on a night when you intended to stay in, cook at home, and spend exactly zero dollars.
Loud budgeting ensures this scenario doesn’t happen.
It sets your boundaries publicly, liberates you from taking on unnecessary debt burdens, and invites your friends and family to join you on your journey.
If your old budget whispered in a cave, your new budget shouts from a mountaintop—unapologetic and for all to see.
That’s why loud budgeting can be a powerful antidote to “keeping up with the Joneses.” It stares FOMO spending right in the face and says, “You know what? I don’t need to spend my money on you today, but thanks for asking!”
Ironically, loud budgeting was born on TikTok—the very site that promotes “stress spending.”
Content creator Lukas Battle popularized the term with his signature sense of humor, as he decried rising inflation: “Sorry, can’t go out to dinner—I’ve got $7 a day to live on.”
And just like that, Battle fired the first shot of the war on profligate spending.
Today, loud budgeting is a fixture of social media financial influencers who remind people that saying “no” to splurging is a superpower.
So next time you have a friend or family member in town, take control of the conversation.
Rather than doing drinks, dinner, and a concert, you can politely change plans by saying, “That sounds like fun, but I’m sticking to my budget this month. Why don’t we meet for happy hour, and I’ll cook a great dinner for us back home?”
Remember: NO isn’t a bad word. It’s just the prerequisite to an eventual (and superior) YES.
Loud budgeting isn’t mere frugality—or a protest move against the rich and famous. Instead, it’s the gateway to holding yourself accountable to financial habits that anchor your peace of mind.
Striking the Right Balance
As with anything, loud budgeting can have a tipping point.
While it’s smart to move away from FOMO-induced spending, it’s also easy to “overcorrect” and avoid enjoying your life to the fullest.
Therefore, it’s important to strike the right balance: to reform your budgetary habits while leaving room for the best that life has to offer.
Remember: saving money isn’t meant to be a self-made financial prison. Instead, it’s a healthy habit that protects you from peer pressure and ultimately sets you free.
To put it another way, loud budgeting is not a task you complete; it’s a mindset you maintain.
So keep investing in the stock market. Continue growing your emergency fund. Put your cash reserves in a high-yield savings account.
Keep doing what you’ve been doing, and allow yourself to say NO to the costs you don’t want to carry.
That’s power no amount of money can buy.
Resources for Budgeting Tips
Before we go, we wanted to provide a brief list of helpful resources to accompany you on your financial journey.
While each of these articles offers a unique perspective, they all agree that the digital age has made budgeting more convenient than ever.
After all, if you have a smartphone or computer, budgeting (and saving) is always just a click away.
To that end, here are a few resources worth checking out:
- The Best Budgeting Apps of 2024 (some free, some subscription-based)
- EveryDollar, the popular (and free) budgeting tool from Dave Ramsey Solutions
- APY vs APR Interest Rates, a guide to maximizing your savings
- Get financially fit with the tried-and-true 50/30/20 budgeting strategy.
- Want a second opinion on how to create a budget? Consider the 60/20/10 rule.
- Short-term, mid-term, long-term: setting financial goals in all seasons of life
As always, we will continue bringing you the latest in financial insights, trends, and analysis.
Welcome to uLink
Loud budgeting can help you better value the importance of budgeting, get you closer to financial freedom, and deliver newfound confidence and peace of mind along the way.
As an immigrant, it’s important to remind yourself that the journey to success is paved with challenges.
In fact, we recently explored the lives of six immigrant business owners who overcame incredible obstacles during their first few years in America. Though they saw their share of struggles, they ultimately overcame them all.
While each of their stories is unique, they all share two things in common: a willingness to persevere, and a refusal to be defined by the opinions of others.
This is a powerful combination and a core ingredient in loud budgeting.
At uLink, we’re dedicated to helping you support your loved ones while you build the life you always imagined.
That’s why we provide great exchange rates and fees starting as low as $0: so you can send more money home than ever before—while on a budget.
